ENTERTAINMENT

The Who leave the legends behind

By Clint Roswell

FOR FIVE NIGHTS of sound and fury at Madison Square Garden, Roger Daltrey will shake his fist singing about it; Peter Townshend will whirl his guitar into mid-air thundering it; and 100,000 lucky Who fans will get the long-awaited chance to share in the British band’s resounding battlecry: Long live rock.

The Who will renew a 15-year legacy as one of the primal forces in rock tonight after a three-year stage absence here due in part to self-doubt, poor health, and most significantly, the drug overdose of drummer Keith Moon last year.

There are many question marks about the Who that will undoubtedly be answered in the five sold-out performances at the Garden. Despite the hoopla of Ringo Starr emceeing, special souvenir tickets selling for $50 apiece on the street and lots of rumors of surprise guests, the Who’s appearance is an event that could determine the future of rock’s longest-running stage act.

Can Moon’s replacement, ex-Faces drummer Kenny Jones, generate the excitement and creative impulse as the dearly missed madcap genius?

Will the group respond cohesively to a new drummer, an added sideman on keyboards and three horn players without stepping over each other’s musical territory? Can the same excitement exist on stage and in the audience for a repertoire consisting of no new songs and reworked old favorites?

"Yes," answers bass guitarist John Entwistle.

"We would have probably broken up by now if we still couldn’t excite one another on stage and feel the energy from the audience. Kenny was actually Keith’s choice when Keith was having trouble a few years ago. Kenny’s been playing with us for a long time in the studio, he’s a loud drummer like Keith, and my God, he’s made it a lot easier for me. With Keith I never knew where he would go off on a tangent. Kenny is a more strict tempo drummer and we’ll usually end up together on a riff.

"Not having Keith has made the rest of us try a little harder to be more active on stage. And having the keyboards and horns really gives us the freedom to explore and do more things on stage."

Entwistle is not alone in his appraisal. Two warm-up shows at the Capitol Theater in Passaic earlier in the week proved that the Who still have the fervor and magic of legend. Townshend appeared totally in command of the new arrangement, unleashing razor-edged guitar runs that later dipped in and around a blues counterpoint to the rhythmic thrust. Keyboardist John (Rabbit) Kendrick nimbly supplied a harmonic go-between of melody to free Townshend and Daltrey for more intuitive directions. Daltrey also was able to infuse a strong blues harp to the mounting rhythms on songs like “Baba O’Riley,” “Drowned,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and “Magic Bus.”

The cheering crowd stood jubilantly throughout most of the 2½-hour show, which presented a more layered, textured, bigger-sounding Who than ever before.

"We had our doubts the first few concerts in Europe," recalls Entwistle. "We were anxious about touring, but it didn’t take long to see the chemistry was still there. Performing again has lifted a great weight off all our shoulders. You can really see that Pete is enjoying himself once again. Contrary to what’s been circulating around, Pete’s wanted to tour for a while except he doesn’t like long tours. Being able to pick our spots is fun."

Perhaps no one is enjoying the special New York area concerts, the Who’s only American appearances, more than Jones. "The Who is the ideal band for me," says the smiling 31-year-old drummer who performed with flair and precision. "I’ve never seen any band work harder than these guys. We’ve all been friends for a long time and I feel more comfortable on stage with each performance. I don’t think I’ll be knocking over my drum kit, though. I think that belongs to Keith."

And although the Who stage a powerful frontal assault on the senses, the group’s penchant for overt acts of hostile aggressiveness now takes the form of Townshend’s gazelle-like stage antics. He’ll jump and crash down on stage with his patented windmills to punctuate the crescendo guitar chords, but Townshend’s trademark of smashing the instruments to end the concert would appear too patronizing now.

"We’re still just as aggressive, just as angry, but not as violent," says Entwistle. "We haven’t rushed to smash our equipment as in the past, although Peter got pretty worked up one night and smashed his guitar."

The Who are the original mod punkers from England and forefathers of the whole new-wave movement that is the rage in London and New York. And it was Entwistle who punched out the rhythms that gave a punk twist to the old numbers.

"New wave isn’t really that different," says Entwistle. "We accept it but we like to keep our distance. Some of it makes us feel like old men. After all, we were 15-years-old when we were into that stuff."